By running for president.
If you’ve been alive for at least 35 years and were born on American soil, you fit the bill. So Nicholas Kristof, Paul Krugman, Sally and Joe: Quit whining and throw your hat in the ring.
At a bare minimum, it takes around 10 millions dollars to get on the ballot in all 50 states. This requires hiring paid circulators (cheapest in non-election years) to run around to every state and collect a total of over 880,000 signatures. So unless you are Bill Gates or succumb to the major parties like the Republicans, Democrats or Libertarians, your not going to gain ballot-access in all 50 states.
But what if you believe in “small l” liberalism, but are simultaneously pro-choice and pro gun control? In other words, what if you think for yourself and not a party, aren’t a billionaire and want to run for president?
Run as a write-in candidate. The only difference is instead of “Matt Jones” being printed on the ballot by a machine, it will have to simply be written-in on the space provided. If someone wants to vote for you, that small gesture will not stop them.
There’s a common misconception, perpetrated by the ignorant fourth estate, that any and all write-in votes will be counted. Go ahead, write-in Mickey Mouse and Mike Pence, and if enough people do it, they’ll win.
In 8 states, including New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, this is true. However in 33 states write-in votes are only counted for registered write-in candidates. For example, in California a candidate must line up 55 California residents to serve as electors, and have each of them sign a form and have it notarized. In Texas, one must 38 Texans sign a form, in Ohio it’s 20, and in Michigan you must find one elector from each of the 14 congressional districts and 2 from the state at large. States like Delaware, Utah, Nevada and a few others only require that the candidate has a from notarized and sends it in. The other 9 states don’t permit write-in candidates but there is a constitutional case to be made in court if someone with the money takes it up.
So the press is misleading the public when they tell us Mickey Mouse is running for president. He’s not, as he wouldn’t be able to obtain the 270 electors needed to win. A write-in candidate registered in all the states that it’s possible to register in is eligible for over 400 electoral votes, well more than enough to be elected.
This isn’t to say anyone can do this, but if you have around $10,000 to spare and a decent amount of connections around the country, it’s more than feasible. Once you launch a campaign website and spread the word, you’ll get volunteers all over the country who will round up signatures free of charge.
If enough people, particularly those with a large following, ran for president, we’d see a shift away from the corrupt parties and toward the common man. Anybody can criticize the president from afar, but few have the guts to put themselves forward for our country.
It’s time time to get money out of politics and to quit dividing ourselves along party lines. It’s time stand up against the seemingly insurmountable elites in the corporations, government and mass media. It’s time to take our country back.
It’s time for a political revolution in America. So run for president in 2020.